TFS – The Year 10 Food Studies Blog Share with others your love of food and cooking!

Thai Garden Restaurant

Just a few days ago I went to the Thai Garden Restaurant (Argyle St) for dinner with my family. Most of the food was really good, like the spring rolls, chicken satay sticks, beef puffs, Thai green curry etc. My mum and I both got the same meal, stir fried chicken with vegetables and cashews, which is a meal I often order at Asian restaurants. I was a little disappointed with this one as it didn’t look very appealing when I saw it and there was an overpowering taste of bamboo shoots, my mum thought the same. Everyone else’s dinner looked really tasty. My cousins got Thai Green Curry and deep fried fish with Thai veggies and both of them said their meals were really nice. I can’t remember what everyone else got but they all seemed to like it.

When I was in Laos in 2008 with my parents we did a cooking class and this is one of the meals we made. We ended up buying the recipe book and this is now one of my family’s favorite recipes.

Lao Lemongrass Chicken with Sticky Rice

3 Tbsp oil (sunflower or yellow bean)

500g chicken – sliced

8 stalks of lemongrass – crush the bottom 5cm and thinly slice the rest

½ handful white onion – sliced

5 shallots – crush once

5 kaffir lime leaves

2 cup of coconut milk

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1Tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1tsp sugar

½ Tbsp chicken stock (optional)

Heat the oil in a wok

Add the kaffir lime leaves, crushed lemongrass, onions, shallots and sugar, cook till golden brown

Add chicken and stir gently till chicken is almost cooked

Add 1 cup of coconut milk and lower to medium heat

Add fish sauce, oyster sauce and increase the heat a bit

Once cooked add the lime juice, last cup of coconut milk and thinly sliced lemongrass

Sticky Rice

Wash and clean raw sticky rice (glutinous rice), then leave it to soak for 6 hours (at least, the longer you soak it the better it sticks) then wash again

Drain the rice in a bamboo basket and place the basket over a pot of boiling water, making sure the basket doesn’t touch the water

After twenty minutes, flip the rice upside down and leave it there for another 10 minutes, then try flipping it again just to make sure it is ready (it should stay in one big glob)

(If you want to look pro with chopsticks, use them with sticky rice.)

A few weeks ago, I went to the ‘Ball and Chain Grill,’ a popular steakhouse in Salamanca. I would definitely recommend it- it’s good food and good value. I myself am not a huge fan of steaks, so I settled for sausages which were delicious. They do not have a kids menu, but instead recommend an entree size meal with chips. Also not to forget is the ‘serve yourself’ salad bar, which offers a large varieties of things to choose from which you can help yourself to at anytime during the meal. Everyone in my family thoroughly enjoyed their dinner!

The entrance                                                                              Main: Quail with potato wedges

Entree-size: sausages and chips- for just $16!                 They grill fish, too! (Main-size)

Medium sized steak with chips and mushroom sauce       Just some of the food available at the salad bar

So, if you are in the area, go to Ball and Chain- well worth it! Don’t forget- free salad bar!

This is a prezi of my experience of the lead up and the trip for the Tasmanian Cooking Competition.

Whirlpool Diary
Basil and Goats cheese wontons on a caramelised tomato and fennel salad.
My Trial Dishes.

My original idea for this whirlpool challenge was an individual dish. This meant that I had incorporate a Tasmanian cheese. This dish had to be an antipasto size. Throughout the weeks leading up to the Whirlpool challenge I made multiple modifications and adjustments to my dish. These included the size of the produce I used and the quantity I served onto my plate.

The main component of my dish was the goats cheese wonton. At first I was just serving up one large wonton on a plate. This looked very unappetising so we had the idea of cutting it into quarters and filling 4 small squares instead of one large one.
The salad underneath also needed a bit more bite to it. To complement the liquorice flavour of the fennel we added a small amount of watercress to the rocket as the basis for the salad.
The caramelised tomato fennel was fine but I decided to add a bit more pepper so the sugar was not too overpowering. These alterations of my dishes flavour resulted in well balanced, flavour full dish.

A key factor for alteration was presentation. Throughout the trial runs in the kitchen I was never happy with my presentation. There was always something that didn’t quite look right. The incorporation of sauce with my dish was essential for taste but was hard to manage. Because the first few sauces I made the vinegar was rather runny and didn’t hold shape on the plate. Once the perno was incorporated as the sauce simmered it thickened. This allowed circle shapes to be held. However it was not until the final trail run that I found a sauce design that suited my dish and that I was happy with.

The Trip:

Finally we began to pack up our gear and head off to Devonport, being somewhat paranoid I was sure that I would leave something vital back home in Hobart, I didn’t luckily. The trip up was a fun one with everyone buzzing about the big day. However it did not come without a few bumps. Because we were SO efficient at packing the bus we forgot a couple of VERY important things, our uniforms.

The altered time frame was also a bit of a hassle as we arrived at Campbell town too early for dinner so we decided to stop at ETC Bakery, however we arrived there just as they were shutting. This resulted in us, after arriving at cosy cabins, having to go out to a restaurant for dinner.

(Rosie eating some wedges)

After a somewhat close call with some “locals” we made it back to the cabins and into bed safely.

The Day Of Competition:

I woke with Elsa at 6am, got my sports gear on and met Andrew for a morning run. Reflecting on this I am glad I did, it allowed me a breather, to prepare myself for the challenges that day would through at me.
Once we were all packed up we headed to the competition. After a last minute scramble around Devonport by the teachers we were able to locate enough uniforms for us all. I was the last of our school entries to compete this allowed me time to see exactly what was involved and just how to impress the judges.

(speculating) (All dressed up ready to cook)

When it was finally my turn as a year 10 individual to cook I was so nervous. As I set up my things on my bench I looked around and snuck a look at everyone else, their dishes looked brilliant. I began to feel very nervous as I realised what I was up against. It started. I got straight into preparing my wontons, I had to get them into the oven in the other building to ensure they cooked at the correct temperature. Getting the wontons perfectly sealed required some manipulation. Having got my wontons in the oven I began to prepare the rest of the dish, whilst trying to impress the judges with my knowledge of my Tasmanian ingredients.

(impressing the judges)

Time was moving fast, so was my brain I was trying to do so many things at once. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I was sweating. Everything was cooked. All I had to do now was the set the sauce on fire and plate up. I was reducing my vinegar in the pan, waiting, waiting, waiting for one of the judges to come over, finally I could wait no more as I was running out of vinegar.

(Flaming!)

I set my perno on fire, thankfully I had the Friends’ supporters to give a nice shout of amazement, a French judge rushed to my aid assuming what I did was an accident, all would have been perfect had I not spilt some sauce.
Five minutes to go. I began to plate up. I had never really been fully proud of the way my dish looked in the plate but this time, with strong encouragement from my peers I thought it looked pretty damn good. I was putting the final touches on, almost forgetting the fennel and tomato! Then I made my way up to the judges, sat my plate down, it was finished!
As I ascended the stairs I felt a huge wave of relief and pride. I had done my very best. I now tried to put the results out of my mind.
Thankfully going at the end of the day meant I only had to wait a short period before the results were revealed. Finally after having all the over categories and the school having placed 2nd in year 11/12 individual (Ryan), 3rd in the year 11/12 team (Erik, Hannah, Aleisha and Emily) and 2nd in the year 9/10 team (Rosie, Elsa, Hannah and Kai) We were up to my section. Third was called out, after realising it was not me I thought there is no way I am placing, then he called 2nd place Nell Beasley. I could not believe it! Bella had to push me down to the stage, I was in all sense of the word overwhelmed with pride.
The perfect way to end an unforgettable, spectacular day.

Foods Interview: Adeeb.

What is your favorite food you eat?

“I don’t know how you spell it, but knoresta geymeh. It’s basically like a curry, which has celery, meat, lime flavors etc. You leave the bones and the meat which leaves a good flavor in it.

Are the foods you eat all or majoritively of your cultural, not western?

At home it is basically all cultural Persian food, the most western dish we eat is pasta, but we usually add a Persian tinge to it.

How do you traditionally “eat” the food?

Persian’s tend to not use forks, don’t know why. Mostly you use a spoon and a knife.

Where do you go to get it?

My parents go to special spice shops for the flavors they use, everything else can be found anywhere.

Is “health food” a major concern?

Not at all, I don’t think anybody really minds. On that, there are very few vegetarians in Iran because meat is such a big part of the culture.

How often do you eat “traditionally”

With other people, at least once a fortnight. We will go out with “tons” other Persians and meet up at somebody’s house and eat Persian food together.

Are any meals in particular more “cultural?” Eg, Breakfast, Lunch or dinner

Breakfast and lunch are usually western food, but every dinner is cultural.

Which style of food do you prefer?

I definitely prefer western, but lately as I have gotten older I have began to enjoy Persian food more than I usually do.

Iron Chef Australia Official Site – Yahoo!7 TV.

Australia finally has it’s own reincarnation of the famous Japanese Show.

Catering Company

http://www.masterchef.com.au/chocolate-and-citrus-mousse.htm

check this recipe out it looks so good.

After Nells post i have been thinking that the school needs to own the canteen and get rid of the company that runs the canteen.  They should employ a canteen manager and get volunteers to help.  Students should be able to help with menu ideas

This is my elective task on food articles.

The family that eats apart < My work on a article.

Black Coffee Café

TAS COOKING COMPETITION:

In year 10 foods this year one unit was a recipe formulation task, with some recipes to be chosen to be made at the Tas Cooking competition held in Devonport every year.  The Friends’ School chooses 2 high school teams of 4, 2 clemes teams of 4 and 3 individuals. All teams consist of an appetizer, soup, main and a dessert. Each year there is a key ingredient that your recipe needs to have. This year for the teams event they key ingredient was sweet potato and for the individual it was a Tasmanian cheese.

We got class time to search the Internet and through cookbooks to find inspirations for our dish. I found two dishes that I liked and in incorporated them into one, Potato croquettes and a rocket salad. In class we cooked and plated up our dishes for the technology staff to taste and judge. It was just like Masterchef, as I had never mad my dish before it was a little stressful, as I didn’t know what I was doing but it was fun at the same time. From the tasting the teams to be taken to Devonport were chosen.

Following the teams being selected we sat down with Andrew and discussed how our dish could be changed and improved. We then got another class time make our dish again so we could get use to the skills and techniques involved in our dish. Once they were then again tasted by the teachers and the students in our class we went back and adjusted our recipe again. I changed my salad from the rocket to a more fine and delicate salad that gave it better texture. Our last practice was to make and serve our dish for John Green and the Heads of High School. This was a really good experience because it was like it was the real competition. I was very nerve racking as we watched them taste our dish and gave us suggestions and encouragement.

On 11^th October 19 students from both grade 10 and 11, along with 5 teachers traveled up to Devonport. We had to pack all of our equipment that we were going to use into plastic tubs and all of your food for our dishes into eskies to travel on the bus. When we arrived we realised that we had left majority of our chefs uniforms back at school, pants, aprons, buttons and hats. The teachers had to do some quick thinking and on the morning of the competition they went out and brought everything just in time for the competition. We arrived at Devonport High all excited and nervous because we didn’t really know what to expect. The grade 11 teams were up first followed by the grade 10 teams then grade 11 individuals and the grade 10 individuals. We had only 45 minuets to cook and plate up our dishes. We were marked on personal presentational and hygiene, cleanliness of work area and food wastage, Demonstration of skills, creative use of Tasmanian produce, timing, plate presentation and taste and texture.

The Friends’ team placed really well in the competition, with year 10 Friend’s Red team awarded Second Place and the Prize for the school was a Whirlpool Dishwasher. This item will be sold and the proceeds will be sent to KOTO the hospitality training organization in Vietnam. Nell Beasley was awarded second place and her prize was a Scan pan Knife block donated by Devonport Discount Meats in the year 10 individuals. Year 11 Friends Red Team were awarded third place and the school prize was a hamper of kitchen products donated by Whirlpool. Ryan Bowring was awarded Second place and his prize was a Scanpan knife block donated by Events Tasmania in the year 11 / 12 individual.

Overall the experience of discovering recipes and changing them in the recipe formulation task was very enjoyable.

Smoothies are getting ridiculously expensive nowadays. Regulars, are becoming $5 minimum. and if you do find a cheap smoothie it has added water and possibly other ingredients (eg. sugar, colors, flavors) not to mention they don’t fill it up all the way to the top. It is so much cheaper and often nicer to make them yourself at home. You can just make them up, it is really hard to find two flavors that don’t go together. Just buy some mixed berries, sorbet and  juice and just blend some together. Eventually you’ll perfect your recipe and you’ll always have a really refreshing beverage at home.

When things like mangoes and bananas are in season or even fresh berries you can just add them occasionally. Or for a treat make one with ice cream. You can also have yoghurt based ones. There are really heaps of options.Also if your more in the mood for a snack rather than a drink (even though the drinks are quite filling) you can freeze your invention in icy pole makers. And have a homemade icy pole and you’ll know exactly what’s in it

Reef is a small restaurant/pizzeria that recently opened on the corner of Sandy Bay Road and Manning Avenue. It’s not too big at all, but it has a great atmosphere, very friendly staff, great food and great coffee if that’s all you’re after. The mainly serve traditional homemade pizzas and fish and chips and some mouth watering deserts. The prices are very reasonable and the food it just outstanding. Defiantly worth visiting there sometime!

My mum recently bought a slow cooker. It’s awesome. If you don’t know what it is it’s like a mini oven that takes like 10 hours to cook whatever is inside it. So you put the meat or soup or vegetables in it in the morning and then when you get home you arrive to the smell of a perfectly cooked meal even though there’s no one there. there’s lots less to clean up and it makes the meat far more tender and yummy. I would recommend anyone to get one. They’re great.

Joff Jennings

Interview someone in the hospitality business on food trends

http://tfsfoods.edublogs.org/files/2010/10/Elective-Task-2.doc

OW’s Catering Company TSB

This is my elective task #2. I chose to look at the fast food impact on the environment, where I made a poster on photo shop and did a write up of half a page on why it is such a big impact, to raise awareness of this fact.

Fast Food Impact On Environment

Harry Jamisons elective task

I interviewed Mitchell

I went to blue eye the other night for dinner with my family.  It was the best fish and chips I have ever tasted.

I had a beer battered blue eye with chips.  I would recommend it any day. For dessert I had a banana and chocolate doughnut.  It was truly amazing and it was a good serving as well.

Blue eye is not just fish it offers a few meat products as well.  I would highly recommend you going.

A food interview with Jung beak

Stuart Rees is a qualified chef who did his apprenticeship at Wrest Point which went from 1973 to 1977. Stuarts’ main focus now is full time teaching at the Drysdale Institue, he started part time teaching in 1984. Stuart has worked in many different restaurants and hotels throughout the world since 1973. After wrest point Stuart went to work in many different places, Tor-na-coille Hotel – Scotland, Coylumbridge Hotel – Scotland, Great Daves Hotel – England, 159 Davey Street – Australia, Red Fox Restaurant – Australia, Sheraton Wentworth Hotel – Australia (Here he cooked for many important people like Prince Charles and Princess Diana), he also won a scholarship to teach western cooking to the Chinese in 1986.

How did you the hospitality industry?

At the age of 12 Stuart got a job and the Mona Lisa in Hobart, washing dishes at night. Around that time he started doing a lot of cooking at home for his parents and siblings. He clearly remembers cooking a banana sponge cake for his parents.

In the middle of his grade 11 year, Stuart left school to pursue and apprenticeship at wrest point for 4 years.

How does Stuart keep up with modern food culture?

Stuart likes keep up to date with the modern trends by frequently eating out at local restaurants around Hobart. He also subscribes to many culinary magazines. Also researching food culture on the internet. But the way he finds most informative and appealing is talking to fellow hospitality industry members about the local food and food culture. Also another way he likes to keep up to date is experimenting with food, different flavors and combinations. His specialty is sauces, he loves trying out different herbs and spice with otherwise ordinary sauces to create something new. He was also introduced recently on radio as ‘Tasmania’s Offal expert’.

Stuart is also a big fan of Master Chef Australia he loves ‘the classical theme’ in their use of ingredients.

Stuarts’ advice for anyone wanting to go into the hospitality industry is;

“Be prepared for long hard hours. It’s one of the most grueling professions. You’ll be asked to do inhumane hours. Work long shifts. Do stuff you’d never want to do like scrubbing the kitchen sink. But it’s a great and rewarding job, there are so many opportunities in this industry. And so many opportunities to travel. And with today’s world, it’s likely you’ll always have a job.”

HISTORY OF COFFEE.

• 850 B.C Discovery of the coffee berries by an Ethiopian goat herder.
• 1100 B.C First coffee trees are cultivated on the Arabian Peninsula. The Coffee bean was first boiled by Arabs to make a drink called Qahwa. (Translation- “that which prevents sleep”).
• 1450-1475 In Arabia the drinking of Qahwa spreads and is used to help stay awake during long nights of religious exercises.
• 1475 The world’s first coffee shop opens in Constantinople.
• 1511 The governor of Mecca tries to ban coffee for fear that its influence might foster opposition to his rule. Coffee merchants are temporarily shut down in Constantinople.
• 1529-The Turkish army, fleeing Vienna after being defeated, leaves behind bags of coffee. The man responsible for Vienna’s victory claims the coffee as his reward and establishes central Europe’s first coffee house.
• 1542-Arabia/Turkey. The coffee controversy spreads throughout the Ottoman Empire, as coffee becomes a regular article of diet in all classes.
• 1652-Britain’s first coffee shop opens.
• 1654-Italy’s first coffee shop opens.
• 1668-Coffee replaces beer as New York’s City’s favorite breakfast drink.
• 1672-First coffee house opens in Paris.

• 1685-The Dutch become the first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially. A coffee plant is smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha and transported to Ceylon and their East Indian colony at Java for cultivation.
• 1721-The first coffeehouse opens in Berlin.
• 1723-0Coffee Plants are introduced in the Americas for cultivation.
• 1727-The Brazilian coffee industry gets its start from seedlings smuggled out of Paris.
• 1777-19 million coffee plants are cultivated in America.
• 1822-The prototype of the first espresso machine is created in France.
• 1903-German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius gives a batch of ruined coffee beans to a researcher, who perfects the process of removing caffeine from beans without destroying the flavor. Roselius markets the de-caffeinated coffee.
• 1905-The first commercial espresso machine is manufactured in Italy.
• 1933-Dr. Ernest Illy develops the first automatic espresso machine.
• 1971-First Starbucks opens in Seattle.
• 1995-Coffee is the world’s most popular beverage. With more than 400 billion cups are consumed each year.
• 2010-coffee remains as one of the most popular beverages available.

Jack Peters

*** Using a three-week period, collect at least 10 magazine or newspaper articles; show varying opinions of foods and nutritional aspects. Explore one of these articles in detail.

TO VIEW THE ARTICLES, CLICK HERE -> newspaper/ magazine articles

P.S It may be hard to read some of the articles! (Sorry.)

I chose to write my analysis of an article on Land of the locavore.

Check out my other articles if you would like to read this properly, although it still may be a little hard to read it!

All who did foods in semester 1 would probably remember the LOCAVORE challenge. For those of you who are new to foods this semester may not know what a locavore is, therefore asking the question, ‘what is a locavore?’

A locavore is a person who tries to eat food grown within 160km of their area. Eating locally grown food helps to reduce transport, which then leads to saving energy and money!

The term, locavore was named Oxford American Dictionary New Word of the Year in 2007.

Land of the locavore, from The Sunday Mercury, 3^rd October 2010, written by Graeme Phillips.

It is about locavores, giving a brief description of what a locavore is. The article talks about how the idea is becoming more of a thought throughout the state. However, it is the same for those who lived years ago when transport wasn’t used to transport food over long distances.

It says that has been hard for farmers markets, as they can’t sell everything to keep it running.

An interesting fact I found from the article was that ‘Some restaurants in Europe, for example, no longer use vanilla and pepper because of the food miles involved.’ While some restaurants will always just go for the best or the most unique, no matter how far it takes for the food to travel.

There are no locavore restaurants in Tasmania (yet!), however there are some which are switching some of their items on the menu from further away to more locally grown foods.

‘The Locavore’, in Adelaide, is a restaurant where all the food and produce here follows the rule of a locavore, coming from areas around ‘The Locavore’ 160km away or less.

Since their opening in 2008, they have won various awards, including ‘Restaurant and Catering Award’ in the prestigious South Australia Great Tourism Awards.

Tasmanians, or Hobartians, can become a locavore without too much change to their diet. Fruits, vegetables, fish and other seafoods, meats (beef, kangaroo, chicken), cheese, milk, wheat and vinegar are just some of the foods that are available to Hobart dwellers, with the listed foods all being within a 160km radius.

Save on transport, energy and money while knowing exactly what goes into your food by buying locally. You could even plant your own fruit and vegetables into your garden.

Try shopping at the Hobart Farmers’ market: Tasmanian Farm Gate- where everything sold is locally grown. It is open every Sunday from this October 25^th, and sells fresh, regional and local produce.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Unknown, 2008. ‘The Locavore’, deGroots Lifestyle Media. Available: http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/SA-Adelaide-thelocavore.aspx. Last accessed 4th October 2010.
• Unknown. The Locavore. Available: http://www.thelocavore.com.au/. Last accessed 4^th October 2010.
• The Gourmet Traveler, issues from 2003-2004
• Phillips, G. (2010) “Land of the locavore.” The Mercury. Sunday 3^rd October.
• Prentice, J, Van Wing, S, Sampson, D, Maiser, J. (2009). Locavores. Available: http://www.locavores.com/home.php. Last accessed 5th October 2010.

I was just looking at Bronte’s write up from ‘Written on Tea,’ and it reminded me of when I went earlier in the year. I had a chicken obento box. An obento box is a Japanese style lunchbox which people in Japan eat for lunch. Usually home packed although available at convenience stores, the contents will vary. However, a typical obento box will consist of: rice, fish or meat, and one or pickled vegetables.

The one I ate at Written on Tea included: wok-seared chicken on top of rice, shredded lettuce topped with a slice of tomato drizzled with mayonaise, a soy egg, vegetarian spring rolls  and some soy sauce for dipping. All I can remember was thinking that it was so delicious, especially the chicken which was very tasty and juicy.

I was having a browse on the internet last night and came over a familiar name, and I realized it was a restaurant in Italy that I had been to before, just two years ago! This Restaurant was rated 6th in the world this year and 1st in Italy! Too bad I didn’t get the chance to go when it was at its peak! As impossible as it may be to find a vacant table, if anyone ever visits Italy and are nearby, they should definitely make a booking!

Yum!

After a year or two drinking coffee, dad & I have been comparing coffee for a while now. Hoping to one day find the best, most amazing, coffee shop ever.  For us, Oomph came in third, Zum came in second place but an unexpected winner was drawn to our attention. Breadd, a little coffee shop on Murray street, known for lovely pitta breads, but after having a quick coffee there one day, I always feel the need to stop there and get a coffee nearly every morning now. They also now have a shop near Coles in Kingston, with a bigger bake house also, and seating areas.

The owner also owns a Kombi, so we’ve become very good friends. I’d like to know where you guys think the best coffee comes from?

Who thinks that school canteen is in need of a facelift?
Please write your opinions on the foods and suggestion for change.

You would think traveling around trying new and up coming restaurants would be so great and exciting, this may be a interesting read then…

Allegations of lax inspection standard

Pascal Rémy, a veteran France-based Michelin inspector, and also a former Gault Millau employee, wrote a tell-all book in 2004 entitled “L’Inspecteur Se Met à Table” (literally, “The Inspector Sits Down at the Table”, but also translatable idiomatically as “The Inspector Spills the Beans”, or perhaps more literally, “The Inspector Puts it all on the Table”).

He described the French Michelin inspector’s life as lonely, underpaid drudgery, driving around France for weeks on end, dining alone, under intense pressure to file detailed reports on strict deadlines. He claimed the Guide had become lax in its standards. Though Michelin states that its inspectors visited all 4,000 reviewed restaurants in France every 18 months, and all starred restaurants several times a year, Rémy said only about one visit every 3.5 years was possible because there were only 11 inspectors in France when he was hired, rather than the 50 or more hinted by Michelin. That number, he said, had shrunk to five by the time he was fired in 2003.

Furthermore, Rémy charged, the Guide played favourites. He specifically named Paul Bocuse, the pioneer of nouvelle cuisine, whose restaurant, l’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, near Lyon, was known, according to Rémy, to have declined considerably in quality, yet continued to hold 3 stars. Michelin denied Rémy’s charges, but refused to say how many inspectors it actually employed in France. In response to Rémy’s claim that certain 3-star chefs were untouchable, Michelin said only, “…if [our ratings] weren’t true…customers would write and tell us.” Rémy’s employment was terminated when he informed Michelin of his plans to publish his book. He brought a court case for unfair dismissal, which was unsuccessful.

Accusations of bias

As the Michelin Guide is published by a French company, some US food critics have claimed that the rating system is biased in favor of French cuisine, or French dining standards. When Michelin published its first New York City Red Guide, for example, Steven Kurutz of the New York Times noted that Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe, a restaurant rated highly by the New York Times, Zagat Survey, and other prominent guides, received a no star-rating from Michelin. (He did acknowledge that the restaurant received positive mention for its ambiance, and that two other restaurants owned by Meyer received stars.) Kurutz also claimed the guide appeared to favor restaurants that “emphasized formality and presentation” rather than a “casual approach to fine dining.” He also claimed that over half of the restaurants that received one or two stars “could be considered French”.

I was looking at pictures of formal cakes for ideas and i really like the look of these ones – however i am going to keep on having a look!

Does anyone know how they are going to do theirs yet?

The other night I watching this cooking show, Jamie was in Athens. I absolutely love watching Jamie cook and he has some amazing ideas and the way he able to marry flavours is very inventive.
One of the dishes he cooked on the show was souvlaki (wicked kebabs). They looked so delicious and I plan on making them in summer.

Check them out:

ingredients
• 3 sweet pointed peppers –
a mixture of colours is nice
• 8 flatbreads, to serve
• 4 sprigs of fresh mint,
leaves picked
• a small bunch of fresh dill,
chopped (stalks and all)
• red wine vinegar
• Greek extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, to serve
For the kebabs
• 800g leg of pork, shin
if you can get it, the best
quality you can afford,
cut into 2cmchunks
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• juice of 1 lemon
• 100ml good-quality olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic,
peeled and finely grated
• 1 tablespoon red
wine vinegar
• a pinch of freshly
ground black pepper
• a pinch of sea salt
For the tzatziki
• ½a large cucumber
• 200ml natural yoghurt
• 1 small clove of garlic, peeled
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried mint
• 1½teaspoons red
wine vinegar

souvlaki (wicked kebabs)
main courses | serves 4 (makes 8 generous kebabs)
We Brits often think of kebabs as a guilty pleasure. But, having seen the love and attention that goes into preparing a proper Greek kebab, I can assure you there is nothing to feel guilty about. It’s all about quality ingredients and fresh zingy flavours. I’d always thought dried mint sounded a bit naff, but actually it turned out to be very delicious and it really helped create a more authentic taste. A few of these with some cold beers would be wicked. Cook them on a barbecue or in a griddle pan, depending on what’s easier for you.

If using wooden skewers, cut 8 to fit your griddle pan and soak them in a tray of water to stop them burning. Put all your kebab ingredients into a bowl and use your clean hands to mix everything together really well. Cover with clingfilm, then pop into the fridge for 30 minutes, or longer if you want the flavours to get a bit more intense.

Meanwhile, blacken the peppers directly over the flame of your hob, in a hot dry griddle pan or under a hot grill. Turn them every so often and when they look almost ruined, pop them into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and put to one side to steam for 5 minutes or so – this will help their skins to come off.

Make your tzatziki by coarsely grating the cucumber into a sieve set up over a bowl. Add a few good pinches of salt, then use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can. Pour the water away, then tip the cucumber into the empty bowl and add the yoghurt. Pound the garlic in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of salt until you have a paste, and spoon that into the bowl with the cucumber. Add the dried mint and red wine vinegar and mix really well. Have a taste to make sure you’ve got the balance right, then put aside.

Preheat a griddle pan or grill on a high heat. Thread the skewers through the marinated pork pieces, leaving little spaces between them so that the heat cooks everything evenly. Cook the kebabs on the screaming hot griddle or grill for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally until done on all sides. Warm your flatbreads in the oven or in a hot dry pan while your kebabs are cooking.

Just before your kebabs are ready, peel and deseed your blackened peppers, then tear them into strips and put them into a bowl. Roll up your mint leaves, finely slice them and add to the bowl along with the dill. Add a few splashes of red wine vinegar, a pinch or two of salt and pepper and a lug of extra virgin olive oil. Toss and mix together, then have a taste to check the balance of flavours. Cut your lemon into wedges.

Put a dollop of tzatziki and the meat from one skewer on each warmed flatbread. Top with some of your pepper mixture, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Life doesn’t get much better.

On Friday’s, the Warner family always get takeaway or visit a nearby restaurant as a sort of celebration of the end of the week. On this particular occasion, we went to solo pasta, an Italian style bistro opposite the Woolworth’s car park in sandy bay (in king street). It may look small, but as people always say, good things come in small packages!

I have been to this restaurant many times, so many times in fact, that my dad has become mates with one of the owners, simon. He and his partnder run the place together, and they do a mighty good job. Simon deals with the customers and the business operations, whilst his partner does the cooking. Simon is pretty much the life of the party, he visits the tables offering complementary wine and asking whether everything is meeting the standards. He is generally just a lovely person to be around.

The atmosphere inside the place is so pleasant, it feels like you are part of this large Italian family, all sitting around the table to enjoy a good meal. The people there are so friendly and they aren’t afraid to have a good conversation with their customers, which is what I think makes this place so great. The waiters and waitresses are so attentive and friendly, that you feel like you have known them for a long time, or they are old friends you are catching up with for dinner.

If the warmth, the smells and the people don’t draw you in, I am pretty sure the food will be the bait.

For starters we ordered a large garlic and herb pizza with cheese, which was absolutely beautiful. The pizza crust was so crispy on the outside, but warm, moist and cooked to perfection on the inside. The cheese had oozed over the whole pizza, and it tasted so fantastic with the warm and fluffy homemade base. But the thing that really made this pizza great was the herby garlic tang, just to top off the whole experience of eating Italian homemade pizza.

Fortunately, because there were 5 of us, we still had room for mains after the pizza. I ordered the ‘Fettuccine Ai Fungi’ which is made up of honey brown, shiitake and oyster mushrooms mixed with coriander pesto, white wine and cream. It was amazing, even the colour and the look of it was perfection. The creamy sauce was perfectly textured and smooth, nothing was too over powering. It was like eating warm creamy heaven; every flavour was just so well matched to the next that I was tempted to order seconds.

My other family members had: piccante risotto, which had salami, capsicum, olives, chili, tomato and cream in it. This was another amazing looking dish, I tried the rice and it was so tender and soft, yet so full of flavour.

My brother had spag bol, he hasn’t had anything else apart from that dish since we have been going to solo pasta, and when you ask him whether it’s good, he just keeps eating after a quick ‘what do you think’ glance.

My sister had the salt and chili fried calamari, which came alongside a salad and topped with some cracked pepper.

And last but not least, my dad ordered the pork spare ribs… which pretty much speak for themselves. To me they looked a little sickening (my vegetarian views made their appearances), but to my dad, it was like cake for breakfast J

Even after these mouth watering main meals, we still made room for dessert, and after all, who doesn’t like a good Italian dessert?

My mum, dad and I ordered the most popular Italian cake. Tiramisu. It is made of sponge cake dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liquor and cocoa. It tastes just as good as it sounds; it came with a beautiful dollop of vanilla bean ice cream. I have to say, it was so soft and delicate that I felt like I was sitting on a cloud while I was eating it. The flavours flew out and seriously amalgamated together in one beautiful bite.

Just as always, I suggest this restaurant to anyone who has a love for some real home-style Italian food, there are plenty of places to get your average pizza and pasta, but for something truly special and worth every cent, solo pasta is the only place to go.

I recently made this black forest cake for my dad’s birthday.  I got the recipe off masterchef. The link is below. It is probably more of Gary’s version or spin off of a black forest cake, as there are aspects of it which don’t stick to the traditional black forest features.

http://www.masterchef.com.au/black-forest-cake.htm

It had multiple layers, probably about 10, with lots of different mixtures and components to it. Firstly there was the chocolate sponge, with then a hazelnut praline mousse, mascarpone cream, candied cherries, and cherry syrup in between each layer of cake. It then had chocolate ganache on the top with chocolate curls to decorate.

I thought that the cake did taste really good, although it was pretty rich!! And while it was good all together I think each component would still be satisfying individually, especially the chocolate hazelnut praline mousse which was amazing.

Berry Cheesecake Recipe – Taste.com.au.

This is a really easy recipe that tastes amazing!

Cheesecake cake is my favorite cakes and this recipe was perfect!

I was wondering if anyone knows where to find the pictures of our Whirlpool dishes?

Junior Masterchef had 2.2 million viewers on Sunday night. Other that watch will agree that Australia was amazed at the talent of these young chefs. Was anyone else that watched jealous of their skills?

During the holidays I went to Tobie Puttock’s restaurant in Melbourne, Fifteen.

“Jamie gave me the opportunity to establish a Fifteen in Australia and I jumped at the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of young people in my own home town, how could I pass the chance to be part of something as special as Fifteen Melbourne.”
-Tobie Puttock

It is a gorgeous restaurant, with an Italian influence. The food we ate was,
Antipasti: Rabbit, muscatel and pistachio terrine with carrot chutney and rye crostino.
Calamari fritti dusted in chickpea flour with salt and saffron aioli
Primi: The lightest potato gnocchi with confit duck leg ragu, juniper and salted ricotta.
Jerusalem artichoke risotto with Hervey Bay scallops, crisp pancetta and sorrel cress

Dolci: Chocolate, hazelnut and toffee fudge tart with crème fraîche gelato

The dinner was delicious. It is also a great place to eat as the kitchen is open and you are able to see and hear the chefs preparing your meal. You will not go unnoticed, there was a surprising number of floor staff and someone was always topping up your water and asking if there is anything wrong.
I strongly recommend everyone go to try this food, but book!! It is very hard to get a table.

Max Brenner is a a chocolate shop located on the mainland and some located all over the world (USA, Singapore, Philippines and Israel). I visited Max Brenner when I was in Melbourne over the holidays. It was very welcoming, even though the shop was full of chocolate lovers. The Menu was full of everything chocolate, from chocolate pizza to making your own hot chocolate by melting you own chocolate right in front of your eyes. I chose the chocolate dip, which is a small bowl of melted chocolate with strawberries, It was every tasty, the chocolate was at the right temperature and with every bight I could taste the milkyness of the chocolate.

This is a photo of my chocolate dip.

Every plate that came out with great presentation, chocolate drizzled over the plate. You could tell that everything was fresh because you could see the chocolatiers construct you meal right in front of you over the counter.

I would defiantly highly recommend Max Brenner’s Chocolate Shop for anyone who is a chocolate lover or anyone who is just looking after a good bite to eat.

http://www.maxbrenner.com.au/

There are other chocolate shops located over melbourne like Lindt and others. Has anyone been to any chocolate shops in Melbourne, or Max Brenner?  What’s your favorite chocolate recipe?

I went to the Wrest Point Casino during the holiday’s for a birthday lunch with my grandparents. There is a buffet on the ground floor that runs all day. There is a breakfast for $21 a lunch for $23.5 and a dinner for $31. It is all you can eat, and there are four available courses. Entrée, main, dessert, cheese and biscuits and tea and coffee. The food here is delicious, constantly replenished  and cooked recently not frozen. There is a chef that cuts the meant that you want and there is a chocolate fountain with cut up fruit and marshmallows to dip in it. If your ever hungary and in the area i strongly recommend it.

Jamie Oliver grew up in Clavering, a small village in Essex, located about 32 miles south of Cambridge. There he worked in his father’s pub, The Cricketers, in the kitchen. After leaving school he went to London, where he learned cooking in college. A short time later, he worked in the restaurant from Gennaro Contaldo. There he also worked with the German TV chef Tim Mälzer. While Oliver was working  in the restaurant “River Cafe”, he was discovered for television. While he worked on his commercials and TV shows like “The Naked Chef”, he worked in the restaurant “Monte’s”.

His restaurant Fifteen in London gives unemployed and socially disadvantaged young people the opportunity to learn how to cook and work in the catering trade.
Jamie Oliver is married since June 2000 with Juliette ‘Jools’ Norton, they have two daughters, Poppy Honey (2002) and Daisy Boo (2003). 1989 Oliver joined with Leigh Haggerwood the band “Scarlet division” in which he still plays the drums.
‘Feed me better’
Another action was the campaign, “Feed me better”, on TV under the title “Jamie’s School Dinners”, to improve the quality of the food in school canteens. The accompanying TV series on Channel 4 showed the offer of fast food and rigor dominated situation in Britain’s school kitchens and the attempt to Jamie Oliver, the school children nutritious, healthy menus. Oliver collected 241 000 signatures for it at various schools in England. In the course of the campaign, the Labour government promised to provide additional 280 million pounds available. After that, he was known by the TV shows:
The Naked Chef (ORF, RTL2, RTL Living)
Oliver’s Twist (RTL2, ORF)
Jamie’s Kitchen (RTL2, ORF)
Happy Days Live (RTL2, ORF)
Jamie’s School Dinners (RTL2, ORF)
Jamie’s Great Italian Escape (RTL2, ORF)
Jamie At Home (RTL2, ORF)

Recently My family and I celebrated my Mum’s birthday at Francisco’s spanish Restaurant located in Battery point.  The restaurant was in a really nice position and though it was quite a cold night, the wood heater inside warmed up the room and created a comfortable atmosphere to enjoy food in.  The warm red colours on the walls of the interior was perfect for the spanish style of the restaurant.  The owner , Maria attended The  Friends School and as front of house,  was very welcoming and helpful during our visit. 

The food came out almost instantly which was really nice.  First off we started out with freshly made and cooked spanish bread which set off our appetite for the rest of the meal.  After we ordered numerous tappas including open mussel sheels with a chilli tomato based marinaed.  Garlic, chilli prawns.  Butter and herb large tasmanian mushrooms and many more.  All the food tasted really fresh with lovely flavours and really light.

I would really recommed this restaurant to others if celebrating a special occasion or just going out to have a nice dinner.

Aboriginal food/ indigenous food

Aboriginals was the first Humans to live in Tasmania that we know of, they had many ways of preparing food before it was able to be eaten. To remove poisons and bitter tastes from food such as vegetables. The way they were washed was they either sliced or grounded the vegetables the put in to a dilly and hung in running water, such as a stream. Then they would strain the vegetables by leaving them in a dilly bag or bundles of grass or they also used a hole in the sand, this was used to strain plants and vegetables.

Some roots tasted very vile, so the aboriginals would pound them with heavy sticks or stones so the taste would be reduces, but some of the food also had to be roasted to remove the taste.

Water was boiled using bark throughs, made out of coolamons or large seashells. This was used a lot to prepare the food for eating. The bark throughs were also used for tossing the food, the through was filled with seeds and other bits and pieces like bark and then was thrown into the air and the light rubbish stuff would fly away and the heavy stuff would fall back into the through and the heavier rubbish would be picked out later.

The aborigines choose food that had a lot of nutrition they didn’t choose their food as much for taste. The only way they knew what foods where good in nutrition and which where actually edible was by word of mouth, which was passed through the generations of that tribe. Apart from bunya nuts they only used food that was in their tribal area and did no trade food with any other tribe.

There are only a small amount of foods used by modern Australia’s and are only used for flavouring, colour, jams, chutney, jellies, drinks, spices and sauces. The main aboriginal food that is used today is lemon myrtle, mountain pepper, Davidson’s plum and the macadamia nut, but the macadamia nut has been well established, because of the Americans doing most of the work making it such a widely spread thing.

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/bushtucker/